Episode 60, "Heaven's Eye, Earth's Gate"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Denny Brosh reuintes with Maria Ross at the radio station, where Mrs. Bradley wonders about her husband. In Father's lair, May challenges Father and the Elric brothers take on Pride. Father effortlessly repels May, hurting her. Ishbalans set up drawn alchemy arrays around Central. Wrath and Scar exchange blows, with Scar revealing that he has an array on his left arm now, and can use alchemy. Edward tells Alphonse to assist her while he handles Pride on his own. Izumi assists in fighting Father, but Father has had enough and restrains his sacrifices. The eclipse occurs, and Father explains that the world is like a lifeform, and he plans to open its Gate. Suddenly, Greed attacks, but Father makes his way to the true center of his array and activates it. The five sacrifice's Gates repel each other and cause the Gate of the world to open, taking the lives of the people in Amestris as energy to open the Gate. Father calls on the "God" of the Gate and pulls it down to absorb it.
Comments:
It's weird how much the story mood swings. The opening of this pretty important (in terms of plot development) episode has Denny Brosh reuniting with his colleague, Maria Ross, after a long time. This would have been a nice scene a few episodes ago, around the time it was in the manga, but now it just seems kind of pointless. Not to mention, it turns wacky as soon as he sees her. Then there's another scene of Mrs. Bradley on the radio show. Weren't we just with Father in his lair, all of his sacrifices just gathered? Let's get on with it.
May makes the incredibly retarded decision to battle Father on her own, despite the fact that he's a near god with a Philosopher's Stone of half an entire nation in him and the ability to do pretty much anything with alchemy without moving. The Elric brothers just sort of let her do this until she predictably falls. My problem with this bit is that Father really isn't doing anything all that amazing to defend himself. I mean, I guess he really doesn't have to, but turning his hand into a gun? It's a little silly. Turn the floor into a big mouth and have it swallow her. Or hell, do what Scar does and deconstruct her entirely. Even Izumi is more creative, creating a giant crossbow.
The fight between Scar and Wrath is in full swing, with Wrath going at Scar, injuring him a bit, and continuing to fight despite his own injuries. The real surprise (to those who hadn't read this part in the manga) is that Scar can now do regular alchemy, since he has an alchemy array on his other arm as well, based on his brother's research. He must've had it put there by Marcoh sometime before they met the others in Lior. The embracing of alchemy by Scar might've been an important development if he had continued to remain a contributing character in the story, but at this point it just comes across as kind of an asspull to me, or more of a side note. I get a "Oh, really? Good for him. Anyway..." reaction from it.
It's good to see Edward in action again after so long, even if his moves against Pride seem awfully familiar. The best part was Edward headbutting the little douche. It's amusing that now Edward really isn't that short, anymore. He's grown over the course of the series. The fight is broken up by Father finally putting a stop to all the fucking around, but don't think things are quite finished between the two.
Greed makes a cameo, arriving to take control away from Father, as he is Greed and desires the world. However, it doesn't do any good, because he isn't even in the right spot, and Father had planned ahead. It's too bad, too, because I sort of wanted Greed to succeed. I'd follow Emperor of the World Greed. He's a pretty likeable guy, even as greedy as he is.
With Father activating his Amestris-wide alchemy array, we get some really trippy, "What the fuck?" scenes. Big red lines of light connect the points on the array, the black hands of the Gate rise and seemingly kill everyone not in the center of the circle, including Winry, Pinako, Rose, Paninya, and others, and huge gates appear on Earth and the moon. I, uh, guess you're just supposed to kind of not take all of this literally, since usually the gates open in that white realm. Father grows huge and calls forth "God", which I guess is the eye thing that appears inside the Gate, which Father appears to pull down via the hands and... what exactly am I watching here? Is this Third Impact? And I thought the first FMA TV series had some weird happenings. Not that I mind them, but some of the visuals are just a little too bizarre, even for me.
If you'll excuse me, I have the final chapter of the manga to read. I... don't want to read it, because part of me doesn't want FMA to be over. If I don't read it, it won't end, right? Right?
Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5
